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Primary sourcePaintingNovember 1888

The Red Vineyard

Vincent van Gogh · November 1888

A vineyard scene painted near Arles, traditionally considered the only painting van Gogh sold during his lifetime.

Painted by van Gogh and traditionally the only painting he is known to have sold during his lifetime.

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Painting in thick, swirling brushstrokes of a vineyard with red and orange vines in the foreground, workers bending among the plants, a canal on the right, and a pale yellow sun over a yellow sky.
Vincent van Gogh, The Red Vineyards near Arles, 1888. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.

About this source

What it is

The Red Vineyards near Arles is an oil painting by Vincent van Gogh, made in early November 1888 on a piece of burlap. It shows workers in a vineyard. It is now held by the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow.

Why it matters

The painting is traditionally said to be the only work van Gogh sold in his lifetime, bought in 1890 for 400 francs by Belgian painter Anna Boch, sister of his friend Eugène Boch. Van Gogh wrote to Theo about the sale with some embarrassment, since the Bochs paid full exhibition price rather than a friend's price. The painting's later history, through collector Ivan Morozov and nationalisation after the Russian Revolution, shows how van Gogh's work was valued only after his death.

Look closer

  • What does the painting show about rural labour in Provence?
  • Why might a single sale matter so much to how we remember an artist's life?
  • What do the colours suggest about the time of day or season?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Vincent van Gogh on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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